Determination of Moisture in Corn Kernels by

Near-Infrared Transmittance Measurements

Essex E. Finney, Jr., Karl H. Norris
MEMBER FELLOW
ASAE ASAE

centage moisture within the product and the intensity

ABSTRACT of its water absorption bands (Curcio and Petty, 1951)
EAR-infrared transmittance (T) of individual at 760, 970, 1190, 1450, and 1940 nm. Data are avail-
N kernels of corn was measured over the spectral able on the relationship between moisture content and
region from 700 to 1100 nm. AOD(950-920)nm and the near-infrared absorption properties of ground grain
dT/T at 936 nm were linearly correlated with percent samples (Ben-Gera and Norris, 1968; Norris and Hart,
moisture in the kernel. Standard errors were about 1965; Williams, 1975); and recently, correlations of
2 percent for corn with moisture ranging from 8 to 35 moisture content with the infrared reflectance of whole-
percent. kernel corn have been reported (Stermer et al., 1977).
Paez et al. (1968) found no relationship between
INTRODUCTION moisture content of corn and the light they trans-
mitted through individual kernels in the visible region
With the wide acceptance of mechanical harvesting,
between 450 and 560 nm. No information has been
corn often is harvested with a high moisture content
reported, however, on spectral transmittance of corn
so that field losses due to natural shattering and adverse
weather would be reduced. Moisture content of corn is kernels in the near-infrared region.
of direct economic importance during marketing. Dry We undertook to explore the possibility of using near-
matter per unit weight is inversely related to the per- infrared transmittance measurements for determining
cent moisture in the grain; and the greater the amount the moisture content of intact corn kernels. Such
of dry substance per bushel, the greater is the yield of measurements might be useful not only for estimating
milled or refined corn products. Also, moisture con- the average percent moisture in a sample, but also for
tent affects keeping quality. High levels of moisture detecting mixtures of wet and dry corn. The distri-
produce optimum conditions for the growth of molds, bution of the moisture content of individual kernels in
which may be toxic, and for heating and spoilage a sample, for example, may indicate the average
during storage. These actions can lead to loss of nutri- moisture content of a single population (normal distri-
tive value and, ultimately, to rotting or total loss of bution); or it may indicate that the sample was taken
value. Rapid, accurate methods for determining the from a mixture of high and low moisture corn (bimodal
moisture content of corn, therefore, are of consider- distribution).
able practical importance.
Methods are available for determining the moisture MATERIALS AND METHODS
content of corn and other grains. The basic method, Corn used in this study was yellow dent hybrid
against which most others are compared, involves drying Pioneer 3334A from the 1976 crop grown at Beltsville,
a known weight of grain in an oven and calculating MD. It was harvested by hand when the moisture con-
moisture content from the weight loss (Anon., 1976; tent was about 35 percent, wet basis, and hand shelled.
Zeleny, 1954). Oven-drying methods are time con- To obtain a wide moisture range, some of the corn was
suming. Hence, instruments have been developed to held at room conditions, some was placed in a refrig-
rapidly test grain for percent moisture. Such instru- erator in plastic bags, and some was allowed to dry on
ments are quite useful, but accuracy across a wide top of an oven for short time intervals.
moisture range is a problem, especially when the Four samples were measured in the study. Each
moisture content exceeds 25 percent (Albert, 1975; kernel was weighed individually to the nearest 0.5 mg
Fetzer, 1954; Stermer et al., 1977), for moisture determination, and its spectral transmit-
Near-infrared spectrophotometry hai been used tance was immediately recorded. The kernel was then
successfully in studies to determine the water content of placed in a numbered position on a tray, dried in a
a wide variety of materials, including liquid extracts of gravity-convection oven at 103 ± 1 °C for 72 h (ASAE,
seeds and grains (Campbell and Martin, 1976; Hart 1976), and reweighed. Moisture content was calcu-
et al., 1962), thin layers of ground grain (Ben-Gera lated as percent, wet basis (w.b.). The mean, standard
and Norris, 1968; Norris, 1964), and intact peanuts deviation, and range of moisture of the four samples
and lima beans (Norris and Hart, 1965). The studies are given in Table 1.
showed significant correlations between the per- Transmittance, T, (Gibson, 1949; Norris, 1965)
spectra were recorded with a special computerized
spectrophotometer with a Cary Model 14 mono-
Article was submitted for publication in July 1977; reviewed and chromator operated in a single beam mode (Norris
approved for publication by the Electric Power and Processing Division et al., 1976). The corn kernel was positioned in a spring-
of ASAE in December 1977. Presented as ASAE Paper No. 77-3021. loaded metal sample holder (Fig. 1) which had 9.5- x
The authors are: ESSEX E. FINNEY, JR., Agricultural Engineer,
and KARL K. NORRIS, Instrumentation Research Laboratory, 3.2-mm (top) and 11- x 5-mm (bottom) openings aligned
USDA-SEA, Beltsville, MD. to allow the incident beam of radiation to pass through

1978—TRANSACTIONS of the ASAE 581

 TABLE 1. STATISTICAL CHARACTERISTICS
OF THE CORN SAMPLES TESTED CORN KERNEL

Number of SAMPLE HOLDER

Percent mo isture
designation (N) Range Mean Std. dev.* Z2ZZZZ2
Corn MA 95 25.5-40.1 33.8 3.9
////I
Corn MB 99 10.3- 20.3 15.3 2.0
Corn MD 99 3.8-40.1 24.3 11.1
Corn MG 99 8.8- 34.7 21.0 8.0

* Standard deviation about the mean. SILICON SOLAR CELL

FIG. 1 Sample holder for transmittance measurements on a single

the kernel. Black sponge rubber gaskets were used kernel.
around the edges of the openings to prevent radiation
from passing around the kernel. The sample was illumi- where T is the transmittance, or the ratio of the energy
nated with a beam of monochromatic radiation incident leaving the sample on the transmitting side to the energy
upon the hard flat (horny endosperm) side of the incident upon the surface of the sample (Gibson, 1949).
kernel. About 35 percent of the top surface of the kernel Differences in the shape of the curves are most apparent
was exposed to the incident beam of radiation. A 2- x between 920 to 970 nm, the water absorption band.
2-cm silicon cell was mounted 1.3 cm directly beneath Norris and Hart (1965) previously measured the 970 nm
the kernel and measured the transmitted radiation. A band in individual intact peanuts and lima beans. They
light-tight enclosure surrounded the sample holder and reported that the difference between the optical densi-
the silicon detector. ties at 970 and 900 nm—AOD(970-900)nm—was related
The monochromator was operated with a 2-mm to moisture content. We also found a significant corre-
slit opening, giving an effective bandpass of 7 nm. The lation between AOD(970-900)nm and moisture in corn.
signal from the detector was amplified with a For corn with 3.8 to 40.1 percent moisture (Corn MD,
logarithmic-response amplifier, digitized, and stored in Table 1), the linear correlation coefficient was 0.90
a digital computer. The wavelength range from 700 to and the standard error of the estimate was 4.95 percent.
1100 nm was scanned and readings were recorded every But correlations were better when other wavelength
0.1 nm. Each 4000-point spectral curve was smoothed by pairs were used. For example, with AOD(950-920)nm,
an 11-point moving average routine (Norris et al., 1976) the correlation was 0.96, (Table 2) and standard error,
and reduced to 1000 points by retention of every fourth 3.07 percent. The best wavelength pair were 942 and
point along the curve. The 1000-point curves were 931 nm, which gave a standard error of the estimate
recorded on computer tape along with the oven moisture of less than 2.8 percent.
values for each kernel. About 400 spectral curves were Others have shown that the use of dT/T (French,
recorded. The data were processed and analyzed by the 1957; Giese and French, 1955) or the second derivative
step-wise multiple-linear-regression methods described (O'Haver and Green, 1975; Williams and Hager, 1970)
by Norris et al. (1976). can greatly facilitate the detection of absorption bands,
The 99 kernels of Corn MD were used as a calibra- particularly when the intensity of a band is weak or
tion sample for which we determined the transmittance obscured by overlapping absorptions. We found that
parameters that best correlated with moisture content. dT/T at 936 nm and the second derivative at 957 nm
The regression equations established for Corn MD were were both significantly correlated with kernel moisture
then used to predict the moisture in three other test (Table 2). The standard errors were lower for these
samples. The ability of the regression equations to correlations than for AOD(950-920)nm and AOD(942-
predict moisture in an unknown sample was evaluated 931)nm, but not significantly so. The standard error
from the root-mean-square deviation, RMSD, calculated
as follows:

RMSD = V £ d 2 / n - l

where d was the difference between the predicted and

actual moisture, and n was the number of kernels
tested. Statistical differences between RMSD values
were evaluated by use of an F-ratio test; i.e., F = S|/Sg
where S2 is the larger RMSD and S0, the smaller. For
our studies, the calculated F-ratio needed to be greater
than 1.39 for significance at the 10 percent level and
greater than 1.59 at the 2 percent level.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Typical spectral curves for individual intact corn
kernels with moisture contents from 4 to 40 percent are 800 900 1000
WAVELENGTH - nanometers (nm)
shown in Fig. 2. These curves were recorded in terms
of optical density, OD; i.e.,
FIG. 2 Transmittance curves for single Intact corn kernels with
OD = log 1 0 (1/T) moisture contents from 4 to 40 percent.

582 TRANSACTIONS of the ASAE—1978

 TABLE 2. CORRELATIONS OF TRANSMITTANCE MEASUREMENTS WITH MOISTURE
CONTENT, AND ROOT-MEAN-SQUARE DEVIATIONS OF PREDICTED VERSUS OVEN-
DETERMINED MOISTURE FOR SINGLE INTACT CORN KERNELS

Root-mean-square-deviations
Calibration sample: Corn MD
(RMSD) of predicted moisture in test
Transmittance Correlation Standard error* samples*?* (percent moisture, w.b.)
parameter coefficient, r (percent w.b.)
Corn MG Corn MB Corn MA

AOD (950-920)nm 0.96 3.07 2.171 0.75 3.92

AOD (942-931)nm 0.97 2.78 2.44 1 1.28 1 3.321
dT/T at 936 nm 0.97 2.76 2.55| 1.32J 3.28
2nd Derivative at 957 nm 0.97 2.69 2.67 1 1.67 3.181

* Standard error of the estimate.

tVertical lines connect values not significantly different at 10 percent level by F-ratio test.

was less than 2 percent when second derivative measure-
ments at six wavelengths were used in a multiple
regression analysis; however, no significant improve-
ment was gained by use of more than two wavelengths
for the dT/T or second derivative parameters.
Table 2 shows that the transmittance parameters
most significantly related to kernel moisture involve
wavelengths between 920 and 970 nm (Fig. 2). The best
single wavelength for the second derivative corre-
lation (957 nm) is lower than the anticipated water
band at 970 nm, Apparently, some other absorber,
possibly associated with starch in the kernel, causes
this shift.
Four linear regression moisture equations (e.g.,
Fig. 3) were established for Corn MD, based upon the
four transmittance parameters in Table 2. These
"calibration" equations were then used to predict the
moisture contents of samples MG, MB, and MA.
RMSD values for the predictions are shown in Table 2.
Predictions based upon AOD(942-931)nm and dT/T
at 936 nm did not differ significantly and were thus
equally reliable.
For Corn MB, with moisture from 10 to 20 percent,
AOD(950-920)nm was significantly better than the other
three parameters (Table 2); the RMSD was 0.75 percent.
This AOD(950-920)nm also gave the smallest error for
the wide-range moisture sample, Corn MG (Fig. 4).
The error, however, was significantly different only from
that for the second derivative at 957 nm. The RMSD
of 2.17 percent compares favorably with the standard
errors of 1.04 to 3.03 percent for electrical moisture
meters used to test corn (Stermer et al., 1977.
For high moisture Corn MA (moisture above 25
percent), the RMSD values were all fairly high, ranging
from 3.18 to 3.92 percent (Table 2). The RMSD was
reduced to 2.36 percent for predicting Corn MA when
dT/T measurements at two wavelengths (936 and 864
nm) were used. The second derivative at two wavelengths
(957 and 934 nm) gave a RMSD of 2.81 percent. The
RMSD values for the predicted moisture in Corn MA
are comparable to the standard deviation of the moisture
in the test sample of 3.9 percent (Table 1).
Part of the deviation or errors in the predicted
moisture content of an intact kernel (expressed as
RMSD, Table 2) may be attributable to anomalies
associated with the oven-drying method which we used
(Fetzer, 1954; Zeleny, 1954). Also, the near-infrared
energy was transmitted through only a portion of the
central region of the kernel, which has internal mois-
ture gradients and variations (Shelef and Mohsenin,
1966). Such variations could lead to errors or dis-
crepancies since the oven method measures the average
moisture of the whole kernel. The transmittance
measurements and oven-determined moisture appear
to be linearly related, but considerable scatter is

Corn MG
r = 0.965
Y - U 0 I + 0.94X

I '\ I • I • i • i • i ' 1 I i I i I i I i I i I i I • I i I . I . I
-0.06 0 0.06 0.12 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48
AOD (950-920)nm PREDICTED MOISTURE-percent (w.b.)

FIG. 3 Scatter diagram and linear regression of oven-determined

moisture versus AOD [950-920] nm for Corn MD [dashed lines indi- FIG. 4 Predicted versus oven-determined moisture in Corn MG. [Pre-
cate plus and minus one standard error]. diction based upon AOD [950-920] nm Corn MD regression equation.]

1978—TRANSACTIONS of the ASAE 583

apparent on both sides of the regression line. The agree-
ment between actual and predicted moisture content
of a corn sample can be improved by averaging the
measurements made on a large number of individual
kernels. For example, AOD(950-920)nm predicted the
average moisture content of Corn MG (99 kernels)
to within 0.25 percent of the actual aveiage moisture
content. This technique therefore does appear to have
some promise.
CONCLUSIONS
Near-infrared transmittance measurements can be
used to estimate the percentage moisture in individual
corn kernels, but errors may be relatively large for high
moisture corn. The best estimates for corn with a wide
range of moisture were made by use of either the
difference between the optical densities at 950-920 nm,
or the ratio of the differential transmittance to the
transmittance, dT/T, at 936 nm. Prediction errors
for individual kernels, expressed in terms of the root-
mean-square deviation or the standard error of the
estimate, were about 2 to 3 percent for kernels with
moisture ranging from 8 to 35 percent. The deviation
between actual and predicted moisture was con-
siderably less when measurements on individual
kernels were averaged and then used to predict the
moisture content of the corn sample.
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TRANSACTIONS of the ASAE—1978